Charlotte Award
2016 · Middle School/Grades 6-8 · Nominee
About This Book
For fan of The King's Speech and The Help comes a textured novel about a boy who stutters and the summer that changes his life.
An 11-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend's paper route for the month of July, he knows he'll be forced to communicate with the different customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything.
The paper route poses challenges, but it's a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble--and puts the boy's life, as well as that of his family's devoted housekeeper, in danger.
An 11-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend's paper route for the month of July, he knows he'll be forced to communicate with the different customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything.
The paper route poses challenges, but it's a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble--and puts the boy's life, as well as that of his family's devoted housekeeper, in danger.
Series Placement
Book 1
Awards
Alabama Camellia Award
2015 · Fiction (Grades 4-5) · Nominee
Beehive Award
2015 · Fiction · Nominee
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
2015 · Children's · Nominee
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
2015 · Grades 6-8 · Nominee
Volunteer State Book Award
2015 · Middle School · Nominee
Junior Library Guild
2014 · Selection
Newbery Medal
2014 · Children's · Honor Book
NAPPA Gold Award
2013 · Tweens & Teens · Honor Book
